Saturday, December 21, 2013

Dec 22 books read

Tempest's Course Quilts of Love Series by Lynette SowellLove that this book is set in New Bedord MA, whaling city within an hours drive from my house.This book follows Kelly Frosts' path as a textile conservator she is bidding on restoring a quilt that was in Gray House.The book also follows the story of Tom Silva who is a handyman for the Gray House. He was discharged from the army due to medical problem.His family gatherings are noisy as most Portuguese family gatherings are (I am Portuguese also)Love hearing all the New England things in the book, wicked, D&D coffee, clam chowdah, treasures of days gone by.Quilting itself, loved hearing of the handwritten note with thread in the corner-my mom does something similar with her quilts (an outline of the island where she lives, her name and date).When the bid comes she has to relocate there to work on the quilt as it can not be moved from the site. Loved hearing all about her work as she goes through each step of the process, priceless!Love careers they each have where they use their hands. Sermons help Tom deal and cope with his life and get through it...Love the mystery surrounding who is paying to have the quilt restored and the whole Gray House complex.From her background she knows she is never alone, God is with her always. Story flows seamlessly with each twist and turn that comes up.Really enjoyed this one for the reasons above. Her past will catch up with her...lots of action and adventure and turmoil to come.Excerpts from the next book in the series, Scraps of Evidence is included.I received this book from Net Galley via Abingdon Press in exchange for my honest review.

Bittersweet by Danielle SteelThis book is about India who gave up her world traveling and helping others in less fortunate countries with shelter and food and married Doug, he works on Wall Street.They live in Westport, CT and he commutes to work daily. She gave up her job in the photography field when she had her first child. After others came along and they are grown and teens she wants to get a career back.On the Cape she met others who have listened to what she's told them and they are behind her to pursue her dreams. The youngest child Sam just loves sailing and it brightens her to see him so happy doing it.Paul has told her if she does go to work their marriage is over. Love that India is into photography and has always taken pictures. Love how she stands up for what she believes in...I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

My 1st Smoothie Recipe Book by Pom Sabra dn the Sabra SistersGreat cookbook for kids, yes they can help also.Love the story and how they are now writing down the family recipes and they are healthy because they learned that although they eat healthy and exercise it's not enough.Love the rhymes as well. Especially love the blueberry smoothies and everything is so easy to make.Even the vegetable ones have good combinations. Create your own smoothie and you could be featured in next edition of their cookbook.There are many other books they've written for kids cooking that are highlighted at the end of the book.Their goal is to get rid of childhood obesity.

Back to Christmas by Dennis CanfieldThis story is about the depressing side of the holiday and the author hopes you are not feeling the same.The labeling committee has to separate the naughty from the nice, which they do and everybody is on the nice list because they can find at least one thing the person is nice about.Marmel is in charge of the committee and has found that the report for the Krunwerths is this story-they should be on the naughty list.Strange things happen in their house-the kids don't listen to their parents, nor clean up when asked but this one day Amanada was to clean the kitchen and she sat on the stool and before she knew it the place was spotless and she hadn't done it...Santa wants Marmel to take one important thing away from the family to see if that will make them be nice to one another again. Marmel is worried his job may end if everyone gets put on the nice list...If Marmel loses his Christmas spirit he will also lose his magical powers. Santa gives Manuel several ideas to try along with his south pole brother...Chapters alternate between the family and Marmel as they progress to Christmas day. It's heartwarming and touching to find out the answer that will solve all of their problems....I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

Cupcakes for Two by Alex TrueWasn't sure what to expect from this book but it is a cookbook where you can make just two cupcakes-or 4 as some recipes will yield that amount.Love this book as it's for those of us who are not only watching sodium intake, but cholesterol and sugar and fat intake. Most if not all the recipes call for egg white-not the whole egg.Also some you can use applesauce instead of butter or a banana mashed or canola oil. So used to having the kids here and I'd bake cupcakes and not end up freezing them as they be eatten. Nowadays with just the two of us I can make just two!10 recipes but only the front picture is included.

Eric the Medic by Yael AharoniVery colorful illustrated children's book about Eric who is a soccer player with his friends.One day he gets injured and his mom cleans the wound and puts medicine on it and bandages it.Another day he's out with his sister walking the doll carriage where they had tied the dog leash to and a cat ran by...The doll gets injured and Eric knows what to do... Eric is put to the test with others...The authors other works are highlighted at the end.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Kevin WhitlarkIllustrated very colorful children's book that is a great educational tool.Not only can you use it to count but also the playful things dogs will get into. A take off of the 12 days of Christmas..Love the ending and the 12th day as each item has their own line.

Leo SuperHero - A Sunday Morning Adventure by The Brothers Illustrated colorful children's book about Leo and his cat Milkshake and how they spend one morning when everybody else in the house is still asleep.Love that this gives Leo the adventure his superhero costume helps to create.They also try to help a mouse find his family. He has an idea what they would eat...There are surprises at the end of the book also, cute read.

Children's book: My Dad is a great man (Happy bedtime stories children's books... by Zehavit TzarfatiIllustrated colorful children's book about a little boy who will hang out at his dad's study to find out what he does for work.wow the things he finds out: he can guess what job he did by what he is wearing...When he tells his father what he's learned he tells him what his real jobs are...Author's other works are highlighted at the end..

Quilting Techniques for Beginners: Learn How to Quilt I was happy to learn that there are ebooks available for quilting. I really wanted to get for my mother the latest in the magazines but I am not sure if we'd be able to enlarge the parts she would need to see.I have done some quilting, some hand and some sewing machine and prefer the hand method. Always looking to find new things to learn to make things easier.Lots of tips throughout the book to help even the experienced quilters.Excellent source of information about how to start the quilt-cutting the fabric, sewing it, etc to putting the batting in. Even the different methods of assembling it together.Several illustrations to show you how to do certain things are very helpful.

The Twelve Days of Yule A Pagan Children's Activity Book by Shanddaramon Loved learning about the meaning of the Yule holiday.Also how others observe it with their prayers and how and why.I recall doing something similiar for our advent centerpiece.